Utah Jazz rookie Walker Kessler could miss the rest of the regular season after suffering a concussion, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN.
Kessler was injured in the third quarter of Sunday’s 111-110 loss on the road against the Brooklyn Nets. He attempted to haul in a rebound on offense and was knocked to the ground. He was slow to get up and was a bit disoriented afterward.
He eventually checked out at the next timeout and would not return.
“(He) got hit in the side of the head with an elbow on kind of a weird play on a rebound,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said after the game. “The docs looked at him tonight, didn’t want (him) to come back in the game so he’ll be reevaluated tomorrow.”
The Jazz have four games left in the regular season and still have an outside chance of making the play-in tournament in the Western Conference. Entering play on Tuesday against the Los Angeles Lakers, they are a game-and-a-half out of 10th place.
Kessler emerged as one of the top rookies this season, averaging 9.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in 74 games. He leads the rookie class in total rebounds, blocks and double-doubles (20); his 2.3 blocks per game rank fourth among all players in the NBA.
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